What Baptists Believe

By Herschel H. Hobbs

Short essays on the major doctrines which have formed the foundations of Southern Baptist life and thought.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BH Publishing Group
• Release date: Jan 8, 1964
• ISBN: 9781433670824

Book preview

Believe

1

God the Father

The Bible does not seek to prove the existence of God. It declares him (Gen. 1:1). Belief in God, or a divine Being, is practically universal. The Bible dismisses the atheist with one terse verse. The fool [unthinking person] hath said in his heart, There is no God (Psalm 53:1). Note that he says it in his heart, the seat of his will. In his mind he knows better. But knowing it, he wishes that there was no God.

E. Y. Mullins gives us a definition of God. God is the supreme personal Spirit; perfect in all his attributes; who is the source, support, and end of the universe; who guides it according to the wise, righteous, and loving purpose revealed in Jesus Christ; who indwells in all things by his Holy Spirit, seeking ever to transform them according to his own will and bring them to the goal of his kingdom.

There are three basic names for deity in the Old Testament: God (Elohim, Gen. 1:1); Lord (Adonai, Josh. 7:10); Jehovah (Yahweh, Lord in KJV, Gen. 2:4). The first (2,550 times in O.T.) is a plural of majesty and power. The second (340 times in O.T.) is a term of personal relationship and is used often as a cognate of Jehovah. The third (6,823 times in O.T.) defines the God of Israel as the true God and as Redeemer (cf. Ex. 3:14; Isa. 42:8). In the New Testament, Theos corresponds to Elohim; Lord corresponds to Jehovah; Jesus means Jehovah is salvation.

God is one Person (Deut. 6:4) who reveals himself in three manifestations as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He is a personal Spirit (John 4:24). He has no material body, except in his incarnation in Jesus Christ, nor is he limited by or to matter.

Systematic theology speaks of the attributes of God, which are usually divided into seven natural and four moral qualities relating to God's person. The natural attributes are his self-existence (from no source outside himself); immutability (unchanging character, nature, and purpose); omnipresence (present in all space and time); immensity (not confined to space or its laws); eternity (past, present, and future equally known to him; he inhabits eternity, Isa. 57:15); omniscience (God knows everything simultaneously); omnipotence (unlimited power in keeping with his nature, character, and purpose). God's moral attributes are holiness (supreme moral excellence or the sum of his other moral qualities); righteousness (self-affirmation of the right as opposed to the wrong); truth (source and ground of all forms of knowing, and all objects of knowledge, Mullins); love (self-imparting nature of God seeking the highest good and complete possession of his creatures). Love is the attribute which envelops all others.

To conceive of God with respect to any one of his attributes apart from the others is to have only a partial picture of God. He reveals himself fully in and through Jesus Christ, who is interpreted to us by his Word and through his Holy Spirit.

Trinity

The word trinity is not found in the Bible. It was first used in the second century A.D. by Tertullian to express the truth taught in the Scriptures. It denotes the triune (three in one) revelation of God as Father (Gen. 1:1; Matt. 6:9), Son (John 8:36), and Holy Spirit (Gen. 1:2; John 14:26).

This does not mean that we worship three Gods. The natural mind of man, attempting to express the concept of the manifold nature of God, turned to idols (Rom. 1). God revealed himself as one God existing in three manifestations. He always has been Father, Son, and Spirit. Thus God the Son existed before Jesus was born. Jesus is the Son of God (John 3:16); through faith we may become sons of God (John 1:12). Jesus is God's begotten Son; we can become his adopted sons. As Holy Spirit, God indwells his children.

An examination of the Scriptures reveals that God is present in his triune revelation in his activity in creation (Gen. 1:1-2; Psalm 104:28-30; John 1:1-3; Col. 1:15-16), revelation (2 Tim. 3:6; Heb. 1:1-2; 2 Peter 1:21), redemption (Heb. 10:5-15), and providence (Matt. 6:25-31; John 14:1-3,16-18; 16:13). This is best seen in redemption. The Father proposed it; the Son provided it; the Holy Spirit propagates it (Heb. 10:5-15; 2 Cor. 5:19; Heb. 9:14). All three persons of God were present at the baptism of Jesus (Matt. 3:16-17: note voice [Father]; Jesus [Son]; dove [Holy Spirit]) and in his resurrection (Rom. 1:4).

Think of history as a stage. In the Old Testament God the Father is on stage, with the Son and Holy Spirit in the wings. In the Gospels God the Son is on stage, with the Father and Holy Spirit in the wings. Thereafter, God the Holy Spirit is on stage, with the Father and Son in the wings. All three Persons are present at all times, with each being the more prominent revelation at given stages of history. It is a mystery beyond our comprehension, but it is a fact.

This triune revelation is given for man's finite understanding. Paul pictures the concept of God in eternity (1 Cor. 15:24-28). In a redeemed and subjected universe the Father, Son, and Spirit reign supreme. There will still be Father, Son, and Spirit. But with our finite minds released from the limitations of the flesh, we shall know as we are known (1 Cor. 13:12). God (Father, Son, and Spirit) will be all in all (1 Cor. 15:28). For we shall see him as he is (1 John 3:2).

Sovereignty of God

The sovereignty of God means that God is sovereign or bears the rule in his universe (Psalm 10:16; Jer. 10:10). This relates to both nature and man. In the New Testament the word kingdom may well be rendered sovereignty (cf. Rev. 11:15). Satan claims world sovereignty (Matt. 4:8 ff.). In Christ God asserted his sovereignty in history (Matt. 4:17). It will be realized fully through his redemptive work (1 Cor. 15:24 ff.).

In the abstract sense God's sovereignty could mean that God, being all-powerful, may act as he wishes without regard to any other being or the attributes of his nature (Matt. 20:1-16). But in the concrete sense it means that he can do as he wills, said will being in accord with his nature which involves such attributes as his truth, holiness, righteousness, and love.

In this sense God has placed certain limitations on himself. He has willed not to violate the free will of man (Gen. 3). He does not act contrary to his own nature (Gen. 18:25). Thus God cannot regard evil as good. He cannot ignore sin. He cannot deny his love. He cannot lie or make two plus two equal five. The self-imposed limitations are not an evidence of God's weakness but of his omnipotence.

As sovereign, God chooses to work according to laws of his own making (Gen. 1:24-25; 8:22; Rom. 6:23). These laws are beneficent in purpose and become punitive only when violated. But God is not a prisoner within his laws. He acts supernaturally (miracle) when necessary to accomplish his moral and spiritual ends. Even here God does not act by caprice but according to higher laws unknown to man.

To the finite mind it is impossible to harmonize the sovereignty of God and the free will of man. But in the infinite mind of God there is no conflict. Finite minds can only accept both as facts in experience. The sovereignty of God never violates man's freedom. But it does require responsibility in man's choices.

The sovereignty of God is dedicated to the accomplishment of his spiritual purpose in history. He keeps the reins of government in his hands. He guides the universe to his own glorious end. That end embodies the highest ideals of holiness and love (Mullins; cf. Isa. 54:8; 55:1-9; Jer. 31:3; 1 Cor. 15:24-27; Eph. 3:1-11; Rev. 11:15).

Fatherhood of God

The revelation of God as the Father is uniquely that of Jesus. In the Old Testament there are allusions to God as Father (Job 1:6; Hos. 11:1). In the New Testament the fatherly nature of God toward all men is seen in such passages as Matthew 5:45; Luke 15:11-32; and Acts 17:28. But the distinct teaching of the New Testament is that God is the Father only in a spiritual relationship (John 4:23). Outside of Christ men are called tares or children of the wicked one; the good seed are the children of the kingdom (Matt. 13:38). The Pharisees were of your father the devil (John 8:44). But Jesus taught his disciples to pray to God as Our Father… (Matt. 6:8-9). In the New Testament the word Father is used of God 267 times. It is so used 122 times in John.

The relationship between the first and second persons of the Trinity is that of Father and Son. But their unity is seen in Jesus' words, I and my Father are one (John 10:30). The New Testament teaches that Jesus is the Son of God, and that men may become the sons of God.

How do men become sons of God? Universalism claims that all men are sons of God and need only to claim their sonship. But this is to generalize the biblical teaching. The fact is that God is eternally Father in his nature. Men are constituted with the capacity to become sons of God not by their power but by God's grace. God desires all men to become such. But it is possible only by a change of nature described as being born again (John 3:3). This is made possible only by grace through faith (Eph. 2:8-10). But as many as received him, to them gave he power [right, privilege] to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name (John 1:12). Power means out of being. So in such an experience God imparts his nature or being to those who receive his Son. Only these may be called sons of God in the true, spiritual sense. They become children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ (Rom. 8:17). God is the Creator of all men, but he is the Father only to those who have become sons through faith in the Son.

As Father, God loves his children and gives good gifts to them (Matt. 7:11). He also disciplines his children in love (Heb. 12:6 ff.). The children of God are to live so that through them men will glorify their Heavenly Father (Matt. 5:16).

Love of God

God is love (1 John 4:8). Thus love is grounded in the very nature of